We are privileged to have modern technology to facilitate our contact, even without leaving our home. Use the tools that are available to you. There are many unique ways to connect with others.

• Test some of the chat rooms associated with sites that interest you.
• Comment on other people’s posts on social media. Ask questions and stimulate conversations.
• Do some research on topics that interest you. You can use your new knowledge to initiate conversations about topics that take your mind away from the present pandemic.

These open new doors to both your social health and intellectual health, stimulating you to think in new ways, while offering you an opportunity to express your ideas and to also challenge the ideas of others. Share your perspective that comes with age, your wisdom. Society needs to hear what you think to counterbalance other perspectives. Be bold with your age-esteem and positively share your thoughts.

Ask yourself what you might be doing for others as well as with others.

• Meet by phone or computer app each day to have a virtual cup of tea or a before dinner drink with someone who is alone.
• Have dinner with your remote family. We dine with our daughter and her family twice a week. Each of us places a computer at the end of our table and using Zoom we soon forget that we are not physically in the same room.
• Many parents are juggling schooling their children at home and caring for little ones while continuing their jobs from home. Why not offer to help children with their studies using a program like Zoom or Skype?
• Set a time to play computer games with a friend or grandchild. AARP has a good selection of games, and a favorite for puzzles is JigZone. I personally meet up with my granddaughters on WhatsApp and we work on the same puzzle seeing who finishes first.
• If you are able, purchase food or walk the dog for another person in your neighborhood who is not able to get out. Ideas are limitless once you begin.
• One of my favorite ideas to stay connected is the Kit de tendresse (Tenderness Kit) pictured above that we received from friends with two little girls. It includes poems, drawings, cutouts, conundrums, and more, all wrapped in colorful paper with lots of scotch tape!

It’s an interesting time to invent new ways to have contact and keep your social health vital.

Bonnie Fatio

A Grandparent’s Influence

How did your grandparents influence your life? With these blog messages I would like to include special memories from you of how a grandparent has influenced your life. It will provide an opportunity to share role models and to learn some of the “tricks of the trade” from others.

When I was attending Michigan State University, I would sometimes visit my paternal grandparents who lived in nearby Holt. They always impressed me with their knowledge of current events. They even knew how many points my present boyfriend, who was a basketball star, had scored in the most recent game. I misunderstood this interest to mean that they would like to meet him and suggested bringing him to the house.

I will never forget my grandmother’s words. “Bonnie, if this is the man that you are going to respect and trust, and who you will be proud to call the father of your children, then we would like to meet him.”

I did not introduce him. The only young man I did introduce to them is the man I married, my husband of 51 years who our daughter and son-in-law are proud to have as the grandfather of their children.

Grandma’s words still ring in my mind as I thank her for the wisdom.

Do you have an example of how one of your grandparents influenced your life through simple words? – Words that you heard because the person had listened to you and responded with wisdom in a non-judgemental way? I would love to receive these stories and to be able to share many of them via this blog.

Bonnie Fatio

A Child’s Hand

“What feeling in all the world is so nice as that of a child’s hand in yours? What tenderness it arouses, what power it conjures. You are instantly the very touchstone of wisdom and strength.” – Marjorie Holmes

What Do You Really Want Out Of Life?

What do you really want out of life?

This is an important question to ask yourself as you age. What you want the rest of your life to be like, and how do you achieve this, is a common theme within Age Esteem presentations and workshops.

It is especially pertinent to ask yourself this question when you reach the stage in life when your career (working either outside of the home or dedicating your time to family) begins to wind down. You now have time to ask yourself, “What do I want the rest of my life to look like? What do I really want?”

In her Daily Spiritual Practice for July 20?^th 2015 Rev. Donna Loflin from the Unity of the Hills in Branson, Missouri shared the following message. Her message is pertinent for your Age Esteem.

“What do I really, really, really want?” ~Elizabeth Glibert, author of Eat, Pray, Love

“Its been said that we are transitioning out of the Information Age and there are many different ideas about which age we are now entering. Whichever age we are entering, we can see that systems are changing and paradigms are shifting. We are moving beyond mere knowledge and embracing higher levels of consciousness.

The world needs you: your talents, your gifts, your creative ideas and your rebel ways to lift us higher and lead us further. Something inside of you is inviting you to dream bigger and shine brighter. But how do you answer your heart’s calling when you work, manage your household, perhaps raise a family or caretake others? How do you make time to be creative when your never ending to-do list never ends?

Take it to the cushion. It could be your meditation cushion or your couch cushion. Wherever it is, sit yourself down, close your eyes and ask your heart, “What do I really, really, really want?”

In 2008 Elizabeth Gilbert, author of “Eat, Pray, Love,” was on “Oprah” and she shared a lot of wisdom she gained while traveling through Italy, India and Indonesia to write her New York Times best-seller. But the one idea that caught fire with people was her invitation to ask ourselves, as we go into meditation, “What do I really, really, really want?”

Gilbert said it is extremely important to ask “really” three times and to emphasize the word the third time you say or think it. Doing so invites your heart to answer it honestly.

You may not hear the answer right away. Be patient. And you may not “hear” an answer at all. You might see what looks like a sign OR you may feel a strong intuitive hunch. However your Higher Power answers, listen! You are being guided.

It may take a week or more to hear/see/feel an answer. Don’t give up. Keep asking…and keep listening. Inner guidance leads to your passion.

Living a life of “who you are meant to be” will not only change you…it will change the world.”

You are a gift to all generations!

A dynamic 40+ career woman who is highly successful in her field of work and loves her job shared the following advice with me.

When she heard about AgeEsteem her reaction was, “What a terrific idea!  Older people need to recognize what a wonderful asset and resource they are.  They seem to shy away from younger people, yet we all need each other.”

She went on to explain, “When I first started to attend conferences, my parents told me to always seek out the oldest person.  That person was sure to know more than my peers.  So I did.  I sought out and befriended older people.  I learned so much more that way.  In fact I owe these people much of my professional success and understanding of human relations.”

So do not shy away from people of other generations.  Seek them out, speak with them and learn from them. Share your wisdom and age esteem.

Bonnie Fatio

We were moved by spirit and wisdom.

There are times in your life where you’ll feel forever grateful that you were in the right place at the right time. Tuesday’s event was one of those times.

Those of us who had the fortune of listening to Bonnie Fatio will most likely remember her radiating charisma, words of wisdom and powerful presence. Everyone exclaimed how touched and impacted they were by her. Not only is Bonnie Fatio an incredible story teller who has had fascinating life experiences, she is an inspiring visionary who is so self-motivating – she is the essence of ‘young at heart’ (… and in body, mind, spirit too!).

Bonnie has a dream to be the catalyst for the creation of a world where ‘age’ is not an issue and people can truly appreciate others for ‘who they are’ and not which category they fit into.

To achieve this in today’s society, we face the ‘i’ challenges – not those related to ipads, iphones or other i-tech, but the three unspoken ‘i’s of ‘aging’. Where, if you have an ‘elderly’ appearance you may be treated as though you were invisible / incompetent / insignificant – subconscious attitudes embedded within a society addicted to the image of youth.

So how do we turn this around? We get back in the driving seat and take charge because, as we learned from Bonnie, there is so much more available to us in life.

By becoming aware of how we think, feel and speak; uncovering our attitudes and expectations, can help us identify small positive changes to enhance the quality of our relationships with ourselves and others.

Bonnie encourages us to have a dream and passionately commit to it using these helpful steps along the way;

• Believe in yourself
• Contribute
• Realize “Its never too late..”

Our ETC values are very much aligned with those of AgeEsteem & we hope you get another chance to connect with Bonnie. So, if you find yourself anxious about the next phase of your life’s journey, consider calling Bonnie for an alternative and positive path that can turn your life around.

Sign up for Bonnie Fatio’s newsletter or workshops at www.AgeEsteem.com

Thank you dearest Bonnie for being you, for sharing your energy, wisdom and spirit with us.

Warmly, Anine & Cheryl

Expat Talents Connect is a face-to-face creative exchange network inspiring YOU to CONNECT & share your TALENTS and live your passions.

It always puts a smile on my face to see fields of sunflowers in bloom.  They have such a generous attitude.  The sunflower not only shares its beauty as it lifts its face to the sun as though laughing with joy.  – It also provides a landing field for all kinds of airborne insects from bumble bee to butter fly who in turn spread the flower’s pollen.

This is easily understood by people with age esteem.  Age-esteemers also have an attitude of generosity.

• They focus their thoughts on the sunshine, the positive.
• They shine with inner beauty.
• They share their joy of living, and
• They spread their pollen of wisdom.

Bonnie Fatio

Senator Edward Kennedy is a prime example of someone who had to mature and grow in experience and wisdom in order to leave a positive heritage for the American people.  His early career was stained with scandals and mistakes. But his later career focused on making his country a better place to live.  It is the man of experience and wisdom that will be remembered.

We, too, can make our own communities more attractive places as we share our own experience, expertise and wisdom with AgeEsteem.

Among the 2,500 bills that Kennedy authored as Senator from 1962 – 2009 was the “Hospital Insurance Program under Social Security for the Aged” (Medicare) and the law barring age discrimination.